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Mission and Overview
Core Policies
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Animal Protocols
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Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dept. of Neuroscience
Kennedy Center Core Facilities
Animal Institute
General Info
Core users are required to provide their own animals and all consumable items (such as videotapes, gloves, alcohol etc)
General and daily aspects of animal care are the reponsibility of the User. All treatment and housing conditions of animal subjects must comply with the terms of a valid animal protocol.
The core does not conduct any invasive procedures, including surgery or injections.
Quarantine animals may not enter core facilities. Please contact the core director for alternatives.
Generally, animals should be delivered or transferred to the Kennedy Center at least 1 week prior to the start of testing. There are currently limited possibilites for testing outside the Kennedy Center. Please contact the core director if you can not house your animals at Kennedy.
Core Users
Unauthorized personnel may not handle animals.
All users must fill out a core user form. Generally users must undergo a training session by Core staff. This requirement may be waived in the case of users with substantial prior experience. However, ALL users must complete the training in how to recognize pain and distress in rodents.
All users must be covered by a valid animal protocol. Keep in mind that ammendments to existing animal protocols often take 1-2 months.
Reserving Space
You may sign up for space using the web-based sign up calendar (http://calendar.kennedy.aecom.yu.edu/bin/calcium).
Before reserving space, please ensure that you meet all the following criteria
- You are covered by a valid animal protocol
- Your PI has approved the charges (or such charges have been waived)
- You have completed the core training
Space is often very tight. Please book space before doing surgeries, ordering animals etc, to avoid dissapointment
Animal ID
Core Users must provide tail mark their own subject (see tail mark instructions). Tail marking lasts about 5 days. Re-marking is the responsibility of the investigator.
Users must provide a list of experimental subjects inthe form of an excel workbook (see sample database). This should be sent to the Core staff at least 1 week prior to the start of experiments.
We prefer that the animals not be toe clipped. If you intend to do sensorimotor assays, this can interfere with the assays.
Fees
Assisted use and consults
The fees (or % effort) applies to normal working days and hours. Weekends and holidays are charged at double the agreed rate, unless this rate has been expressly waived.
Moving Animals to Kennedy
Currently, all studies are conducted in the Kennedy Center. In some cases, it may feasible or preferable to conduct experiments in another facility. In this case, contact core staff for help and fee structures.
Individual experimenters are responsible for transfer of their own animals. Transfer forms are available from the Animal Institute (in person or on the web site).
Animals should be transferred at least 1 weeks (but perferably 2) prior to the start of the experiment. Each facility (and room) has its own pathogens. The animals will initially acquire the common resident pathogens, and then recover and thereafter be immune. They will also be stressed and may have to adjust to a different light dark cycle – it takes them this long to recover. It is the responsibility of the experimenter to ensure that housing conditions in the new room correspond to those stated in their animal protocols and are suitable for their experiments. For example, if you need a reversed light dark cycle room or special watering arrangements, you should ensure that the Kennedy Animal Institute staff know about this.
It is essential to group house mice and rats unless it is absolutely required to do otherwise.
Whenever possible, avoid house males from more than one litter together to minimize fighting.
Age of Subjects
Usually adult behavior patterns are established by 2 months old or so. Animals should ideally be the same age whenever possible or at least within 2-4 weeks. Some experiments may require more precise timing.
Juvenile animals can be tested either before or after weaning. However, the window of puberty should be avoided, unless this is your aim. Puberty is generally betweeen 28-38 days and is different in males and females and can also differ inn specific strains
Number of Subjects
Experiments are commonly conducted in blocks as it is very rarely possible to include sufficient sample size inone testing session.
Ideally blocks dhould be matched (equal numbers of each age, sex, treatment group in each block). Where this is not possible, please consult with the Core staff.
A good rule of thumb is that you should plan on 10-12 subjects per experimental group. Please inform core staff about possible mortality or other reasons that animals may "drop out" of an experiment before the start of testing
Pilots
It is highly recommended that a pilot study be conducted with your specific strain, age , sex and treatments to establish the parameters of each test (such as stimulu intensities, testing durations, delay times etc).